Business leaders call on Government to approve Crossrail 2

More than 70 leading business figures and and organisations have urged Chancellor Philip Hammond and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to approve Crossrail 2.

The project would link Cheshunt in Hertfordshire to Epsom in Surrey, passing through Clapham Junction, Victoria and Tottenham Court Road, slashing journey times for tens of thousands of Londoners and supporting the creation of thousands of new homes and jobs necessary to meet the needs of London’s booming population.

Although the project has the backing of all parties at City Hall, business leaders, trade bodies and local councils in neighbouring counties, work cannot begin until and unless ministers and Parliament give their consent.

In a letter released by City Hall today, key figures from major firms including EY, Deloitte, Aviva Group, Gatwick Airport, Heathrow Airport, Canary Wharf Group, and the FSB urge Hammond and Grayling to recognise the benefits of the project which is described “as being of national importance.”

In addition to easing congestion on the capital’s transport network, the new railway is estimated to boost the entire UK’s economy by up to £150bn if given the go-ahead.

Transport for London and firms operating in the capital have already committed to meeting half of the project’s cost, reducing the burden for central government.

Caroline Artis, Senior Partner for London at EY and one of the letter’s signatories, said: “As a major nationwide employer, we rely on good infrastructure to get our employees to work and unlock areas to give them access to better housing.

“Crossrail 2 will allow 270,000 more people to get into central London in the morning peak while also supporting large swathes of housing development.Crossrail 2 is a priority project and it must not be delayed if the UK is to stay on course for a global future outside the EU.”

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said today’s letter “is yet more evidence of just how important Crossrail 2 is to the UK.”

He added: “Business leaders know it will bring hundreds of thousands of jobs and housing, and transport benefits right across the South East, as well as boosting the economy in all corners of the country.

“Despite the project benefiting the whole of the UK, London has actually met half the funding cost. What we now need is for the Government to take note of these benefits and give us the green light to progress, for the good of the entire country.”

The letter from business leaders:

Dear Chancellor,

Today, we urge Government to enable rapid progress towards the construction of Crossrail 2, an infrastructure project of national importance.

Crossrail 2 will make a difference to the whole country. Forty per cent of transport benefits will be outside London. Thirty per cent of the housing will be outside of London. Sixty thousand supply chain jobs and apprenticeships will be created across the UK. It will grow the national economy by up to £150 billion. London is already committed to meeting half the cost.

This will ease overcrowding on key rail lines from Portsmouth to Cambridge and will link with High Speed 2 (HS2) at Euston. This will transform journey times and connectivity from the Solent to the Wash, supporting 200,000 new homes and 200,000 jobs.

An already overcrowded regional transport network struggles to get people to work and fails to link them to accessible housing, threatening to stunt growth across the entire nation. Serious bottlenecks at nationally significant stations like Clapham Junction and Waterloo are already intolerable and, without Crossrail 2, the journey time benefits from HS2 will be lost in queueing at Euston.

We need to get people to work. Now is the moment for Government to find the Parliamentary time and show the world UK is open for business post Brexit.